Director Maris Jones of production company Adolescent teamed with Hill Holliday, Wax editor Christopher Huth and Sonic Union mixer David Papa to literally force the hands of teens into making questionable decisions in the impactful new :30 PSA “Who Controls You” for Above the Influence, a program of the non-profit Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. The spot features teenagers in a variety of potentially precarious situations, with a hand reaching in from off-screen to compel them to go against their own better judgment and influence their decisions.
A girl has her sandwich pushed away from her as she reads a fashion magazine emblazoned with underweight bikini-clad models; another girl plucks a bottle of prescription medication from the bathroom cabinet while a friend looks on eagerly; two smitten teenage boys are pushed to break affection and are scurried to different sides of the couch; and a girl is driven to become the ringleader of her group of cackling friends to bully a nearby loner.
In the final vignette, a boy continues to reject a red cup continuously pushed his way, deliberately placing it out of his eyesight, followed by the voiceover, “If you’re not in control, then who is?”
AFI Alumni Show Strong Spirit
The American Film Institute announced that the following AFI Conservatory alumni have been nominated for four 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards: Anomalisa co-director/producer Duke Johnson (AFI Class of 2006) for Best Feature and Best Director; Spotlight producer Steve Golin (AFI Class of 1981) for Best Feature; and Advantageous director/writer Jennifer Phang (AFI Class of 1999) for the John Cassavetes Award. Altogether, 17 Conservatory alumni are credited across the feature films nominated for Independent Spirit Awards this year. Winners will be announced on February 27, 2016.
People On The Move
San Francisco-based creative agency Eleven, Inc. has hired Aaron Richard as director of innovation, a new position at the shop, and TJ Tshionyi as EP of digital. Richard will focus on bringing new communication channels, technologies and ideas to Eleven and will report to Gary Stein, Eleven’s group director of marketplace insights. Tshionyi will lead production initiatives across a range of accounts and report to Anastacia Maggioncalda, head of integrated production. Prior to joining Eleven, Richard was a sr. innovation strategist at Heat, where he spent several years working on strategic technology projects for Electronic Arts, AOL, Anheuser-Busch, Bank of the West, Levi’s, Pure Storage and Dolby. Tshionyi spent time at McCann Erickson San Francisco working on Microsoft, and had a lengthy tenure at AKQA San Francisco where he worked on clients spanning Nike, Old Navy, Gap, Red Bull and Jordan Brand….Derek Anderson has joined Publicis Seattle as associate creative director. Anderson was most recently at Taxi NY. He has also spent time at Whybin/TBWA/Dan Sydney and Leo Burnett Sydney. Anderson will join newly hired creative directors James McKenna and Matthew Trego on the T-Mobile business. Also coming aboard Publicis Seattle is sr. broadcast producer Tim Biggins who had been freelance producing on brands such as Budweiser, Discover, American Express, Pepsi and Skittles. In his new role, Biggins will work mostly on T-Mobile’s live action production….
